Commercial Bank of Dubai to take control of Abraaj assets secured against loan

DUBAI – Commercial Bank of Dubai (CBD) CBD.DU, which lent around $170 million to Abraaj, will take stakes in the troubled private equity firm’s funds which were offered as security against the debt, three sources familiar with the matter said.

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Dubai-based Abraaj, worth $13.6 billion, was the largest buyout fund in the Middle East and North Africa until it collapsed last year following turmoil triggered by a row with investors, including the Gates Foundation, over the use of their money in a $1 billion healthcare fund.

Stakes in Abraaj’s Infrastructure and Growth Capital Fund, as well as its funds focused on Turkey, Latin America, North Africa, Africa and health, were held as security against CBD’s loans, a joint provisional liquidators’ report from July shows.

A court in the Cayman Islands is expected to grant approval to swap the debt held by CBD in the coming weeks. The move comes after Noor Bank, which lent Abraaj around $100 million, recently got the go ahead from the same court to take control of parts of funds pledged against its loan, two of the sources said.

They added that other investors requested that Noor agree not to sell its newly acquired stakes on to Abraaj founder Arif Naqvi or his associates.

“These are consensual deals that were initiated by the joint provisional liquidators to help maintain the value of the assets and ensure value for creditors,” said a third source, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Abraaj Holdings and Abraaj Investment Management filed for provisional liquidation in the Cayman Islands in June and their court-appointed joint provisional liquidators, Deloitte and PwC, are overseeing the restructuring of Abraaj’s debt.

Naqvi, who stepped down as chief executive following the dispute, has been trying to win support from investors and creditors for an alternative restructuring plan to avert the liquidation of the firm.